Miss Colorado USA 2020 Balances Triple Life
November 20, 2019 | Volleyball
BOULDER – For most college athletes the life balance begins with student and ends with athlete. For the University of Colorado women's volleyball student-athlete Emily DeMure that balance has a third fold, Miss Colorado USA 2020.
The redshirt junior claimed the title of Miss Colorado USA 2020 after a ludicrous four-day span that included two volleyball matches and three days of pageantry work. DeMure was a part of the Buffs' Thursday match against Washington State on October 24 and practiced with the team Friday before heading to Greeley to begin competition in the Miss Colorado USA 2020 pageant. After a full day of work on Saturday with pageant interview and rehearsals, DeMure left Greeley early Sunday morning with hair rollers still in and full makeup to return to Boulder for the match against Washington.
After the Buffs battled with the Huskies, DeMure made a mad dash for Greeley and sprinted with heels in hand to the finals of the pageant where she was later crowned Miss Colorado USA 2020.
"I blanked out," said DeMure when asked on her feeling after she had won. "I know I turned around and thanked all the other competitors but I was in such awe and felt overwhelmingly blessed that it didn't really process. It had been a very long weekend! I am very thankful and honored to be crowned and have the support of not only my teammates but my fellow competitors and family."
With the title comes more time and responsibility, something a college athlete is fairly used to. DeMure will compete in the televised Miss USA 2020 competition on Fox this spring but before then she will have opportunities to do charity work, work with local non-profits, youth organizations and hospitals in her formal role. Balancing that with homework and practice, DeMure has a full-slate every day.
"I'm fortunate to have a very good support staff, from Future Productions to my parents, my grammy and teammates," said DeMure. One thing I've learned from collegiate athletics is prioritizing my time and making sure everything I'm doing is worth my time and ultimately helping me reach my goals. If I have an hour off I'm not going to use it to go watch Netflix, I'd rather go take a yoga class. Some people will stay up until 2 a.m. on the weekends hanging out, I'm staying up to 2 a.m. doing homework. On a rare occasion that we don't have weights or training throughout the week but we do have practice, that evening I'll do my homework while I walk on the treadmill so that way I am moving the lactic acid in my legs, getting a workout and prioritizing my homework."
Pageantry is something DeMure is newer at than some but familiar with as her mother competed in high school for scholarship money. DeMure sought the same goal when she began pageant work, succeeding when she won Miss Placer County in 2017 where she advanced to the Miss California USA competition. In preparation for Miss Colorado USA, she began working with her grandmother on interview prep and continuing her physical work through volleyball.
Collegiate athletics and pageants aren't a normal duo that is often seen. USC had a backup setter win Miss Albania 2019 and ended up leaving the Trojan squad because the demand was too high. Another thing that differs is the type of person expected. Volleyball players are normally tall, muscular women that can swing hard and move fast. Pageant stereotypes are thin women. DeMure hopes to be an outlier in both worlds.
"It's funny that people have this ideology behind the perfect body for whatever it is you are doing in life. In athletics and sports, people tend to create this idea of what the perfect athletes look like, it's the same with pageantry. There is a stigma around the curvy, skinny girl that walks well in heels, but it doesn't necessarily mean that person is the best fit. In both regards, you can be an incredibly physical athlete on the football field but that doesn't necessarily mean you are the best choice to be the quarterback. In pageantry, you could have the smallest waistline but maybe not be the best representative for the community that year. I like to think that in both aspects, who you are as an individual and the amount of effort that you give in both job descriptions is equally if not more important then fitting someone else's ideal mold of what that position looks like. It doesn't really matter your appearance, it's how well you can execute that job."
DeMure's new title comes with a new job. She will tour the state as the representative on a national level. Through this, she has the opportunity to impact young women throughout the state.
"It provides me an opportunity to use my voice and speak on things that are important to me," said DeMure. "My goal for this year I would like to do well at Miss USA but I am representing a state and have the opportunity to reach as many people as I can and positively impact them. I want to empower young women to be confidently beautiful because that is something I truly believe in. I want all the individuals that I come in contact with to relentlessly pursue their passions. It's important to have a multitude of things in your life that are important to you and you should be able to pursue all of them. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't. At the end of the day, the only thing standing in your way is yourself."
Miss Colorado USA 2020 hopes to impact young women, something she has been doing for years as a member of the Colorado volleyball squad.
"You're braver than you believe, smarter than you think and stronger than you seem," DeMure said would be her first message to any young fan. "That is a quote from Winnie the Pooh and a quote that is really close to my heart. Not giving up is something that I've learned as I've gone throughout high school and college. Having different levels of adversity come my way that may not be someone else's same adversity, but not allowing these things to come my way to weigh me down. Relentlessly pursuing my passion, I may not be more talented than someone but I can always outwork them. Being able to control my effort, emotions and reactions is everyone's greatest skill."
DeMure, a.k.a Miss Colorado USA 2020, is a modern-day superhero, sliding around in kneepads during the evenings and wearing a crown and heels during the day. Despite her two personas, DeMure has one common message that she uses both platforms to reach young women.
The redshirt junior claimed the title of Miss Colorado USA 2020 after a ludicrous four-day span that included two volleyball matches and three days of pageantry work. DeMure was a part of the Buffs' Thursday match against Washington State on October 24 and practiced with the team Friday before heading to Greeley to begin competition in the Miss Colorado USA 2020 pageant. After a full day of work on Saturday with pageant interview and rehearsals, DeMure left Greeley early Sunday morning with hair rollers still in and full makeup to return to Boulder for the match against Washington.
After the Buffs battled with the Huskies, DeMure made a mad dash for Greeley and sprinted with heels in hand to the finals of the pageant where she was later crowned Miss Colorado USA 2020.
"I blanked out," said DeMure when asked on her feeling after she had won. "I know I turned around and thanked all the other competitors but I was in such awe and felt overwhelmingly blessed that it didn't really process. It had been a very long weekend! I am very thankful and honored to be crowned and have the support of not only my teammates but my fellow competitors and family."
With the title comes more time and responsibility, something a college athlete is fairly used to. DeMure will compete in the televised Miss USA 2020 competition on Fox this spring but before then she will have opportunities to do charity work, work with local non-profits, youth organizations and hospitals in her formal role. Balancing that with homework and practice, DeMure has a full-slate every day.
"I'm fortunate to have a very good support staff, from Future Productions to my parents, my grammy and teammates," said DeMure. One thing I've learned from collegiate athletics is prioritizing my time and making sure everything I'm doing is worth my time and ultimately helping me reach my goals. If I have an hour off I'm not going to use it to go watch Netflix, I'd rather go take a yoga class. Some people will stay up until 2 a.m. on the weekends hanging out, I'm staying up to 2 a.m. doing homework. On a rare occasion that we don't have weights or training throughout the week but we do have practice, that evening I'll do my homework while I walk on the treadmill so that way I am moving the lactic acid in my legs, getting a workout and prioritizing my homework."
Pageantry is something DeMure is newer at than some but familiar with as her mother competed in high school for scholarship money. DeMure sought the same goal when she began pageant work, succeeding when she won Miss Placer County in 2017 where she advanced to the Miss California USA competition. In preparation for Miss Colorado USA, she began working with her grandmother on interview prep and continuing her physical work through volleyball.
Collegiate athletics and pageants aren't a normal duo that is often seen. USC had a backup setter win Miss Albania 2019 and ended up leaving the Trojan squad because the demand was too high. Another thing that differs is the type of person expected. Volleyball players are normally tall, muscular women that can swing hard and move fast. Pageant stereotypes are thin women. DeMure hopes to be an outlier in both worlds.
"It's funny that people have this ideology behind the perfect body for whatever it is you are doing in life. In athletics and sports, people tend to create this idea of what the perfect athletes look like, it's the same with pageantry. There is a stigma around the curvy, skinny girl that walks well in heels, but it doesn't necessarily mean that person is the best fit. In both regards, you can be an incredibly physical athlete on the football field but that doesn't necessarily mean you are the best choice to be the quarterback. In pageantry, you could have the smallest waistline but maybe not be the best representative for the community that year. I like to think that in both aspects, who you are as an individual and the amount of effort that you give in both job descriptions is equally if not more important then fitting someone else's ideal mold of what that position looks like. It doesn't really matter your appearance, it's how well you can execute that job."
DeMure's new title comes with a new job. She will tour the state as the representative on a national level. Through this, she has the opportunity to impact young women throughout the state.
"It provides me an opportunity to use my voice and speak on things that are important to me," said DeMure. "My goal for this year I would like to do well at Miss USA but I am representing a state and have the opportunity to reach as many people as I can and positively impact them. I want to empower young women to be confidently beautiful because that is something I truly believe in. I want all the individuals that I come in contact with to relentlessly pursue their passions. It's important to have a multitude of things in your life that are important to you and you should be able to pursue all of them. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't. At the end of the day, the only thing standing in your way is yourself."
Miss Colorado USA 2020 hopes to impact young women, something she has been doing for years as a member of the Colorado volleyball squad.
"You're braver than you believe, smarter than you think and stronger than you seem," DeMure said would be her first message to any young fan. "That is a quote from Winnie the Pooh and a quote that is really close to my heart. Not giving up is something that I've learned as I've gone throughout high school and college. Having different levels of adversity come my way that may not be someone else's same adversity, but not allowing these things to come my way to weigh me down. Relentlessly pursuing my passion, I may not be more talented than someone but I can always outwork them. Being able to control my effort, emotions and reactions is everyone's greatest skill."
DeMure, a.k.a Miss Colorado USA 2020, is a modern-day superhero, sliding around in kneepads during the evenings and wearing a crown and heels during the day. Despite her two personas, DeMure has one common message that she uses both platforms to reach young women.